National Fruitcake Day

“What is fruitcake made of?,” we all pondered in our GoComics marketing team meeting. “I mean there’s obviously fruit, sometimes nuts, but what other ingredients go into fruitcake, and what makes it last so long?” We are all fairly knowledgeable people here at GoComics, so why did we know so little about fruitcake? Is fruitcake just archaic tradition, or does it require a developed taste? I believe the answer is a little of both.

Dec. 27 is National Fruitcake Day, which should be aptly renamed National Fruitcake AWARENESS Day. Fruitcake, something often re-gifted rather than gifted, is a dying breed. It’s common knowledge that those who have a palate for fruitcake obviously carry a recessive genetic trait, while those who do not carry this gene have an instinctual disdain for this festive anomaly.

Personally, I associate fruitcake with the Greatest Generation, something more popular among my grandparents. Somewhere in my clouded memory of Christmases past, I remember my grandma making fruitcake in the form of cupcakes for easier consumption. The finished product— an NHL professional grade hockey puck. The only person I’ve ever known to be really, truly excited about fruitcake was my easy-to-please Great Uncle John, whose Christmas list usually consisted of only two things: fruitcake and Old Spice.

Either way, fruitcake has become the stuff of urban legends, despite its supposed 2-billion-year shelf life. Does fruitcake deserve a Hostess Twinkie-style comeback, or should we just let it go? In order to answers this hard-hitting question, I’ve consulted the comic gurus.

CowTown creator Charlie Podrebarac also offers a lot of interesting ways to recycle your fruitcake, though I would say his attitude toward fruitcake is a little negative. In fruitcake’s defense, there aren’t many foods that can hold a flame to CowTown BBQ.